Sacco’s Snippets: October 2019

The leaves are turned from green to red, yellow and dark red giving us natures quiet fireworks and a cool pillow in the morning light.

The true child of autumn has arrived and will be giving us the best of the season with a step closer to Thanksgiving.

Turkey day is the stepping stone to Hanukkah and Christmas which will lead us into the beginning of yet another year.

Seems that time does fly when you’re either having fun or are not shoveling snow.

Let’s enjoy this time of the year and all that it gives us.

The push is on for Pumpkin spice, and everything that goes with it and believe me you are going to see a lot of this.

Other things that make this month special and enjoyable. Apple picking is beginning to be at its peak with the harvest in full swing.

Farmers are busy storing hay, grain, and corn for the winter months.

Football fans are in season and pining over their teams if they don’t make the spread and the finish of Baseball for those fans whose teams did not get to go to the final dance.

Basketball will be starting, and Hockey will round out the Big Four who will all have games going on for the only time during the year. Exciting month and the part of the month I have always loved; Halloween.

This was a special day for those of us who would get as excited as it was our birthday.

We would dress up in costume and ask for treats from neighbors.

There were, of course, neighborhood legends that would make it a three bag night.

After filling a shopping bag full of candy, they would run home, store the booty, then grab another bag to fill.

The legend was three bags and a possible sugar-induced coma. Halloween has numerous stories explaining where its roots lie and from what culture it was born under.

They each have similar origins but all are for different reasons, some pagan as well as some Christian, to honor the souls of the deceased.

I just enjoyed the fact that before we had cable, dish, and internet. There were around seven television stations that would show some really scary or interesting movies as part of the occasion.

Yes, the world was a bit more romantic in those days, and we had to make our own fun.

My favorite time of the year, the fall, gives us the World Series as well as the playoffs leading up to them and of course, NHL Hockey.

One season ends, and another begins as well as some other happenings. Football begins and could end quickly depending on who your favorite team may be.

Basketball also comes back into the spotlight, and there is plenty more for sports fans to indulge in.

As for Hockey fans, this is where the magic happens. Our Travel Hockey teams are in full swing as well as our junior programs. This is where we begin a new journey for some and the bridge of a journey for others. Each year our players commit to colleges and get to live the dream further. Some of our players from past years have been drafted to the pros, and we have some whose path will be in that direction.

October, although it is the 10th month in the Gregorian calendar, wasn’t always.

This was the 9th month and taken from the Latin word Oct meaning right. It is the second month of autumn in the Northern hemisphere as well as the sixth of seven months to have 31 days.

Its birthstones are the Tourmaline and the Opal.

The Zodiac signs are Libra up until the 22nd and Scorpio from the 23rd on. The October flower is Calendula.

This month is also Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this is something that my family and close friends take seriously.

Having lost someone near and dear to us has given a new meaning to this and its meaning. So get checked and stay healthy.

This month also includes; Yom Kippur, Child Health month, and Columbus Day. There are also some significant days that are historical as well as meaningful.

Quite often, I am asked why this next part of the article contains dates and birthdays. One part of our existence has been to forget our history and miss out on all that it offers.

If you ask yourself what it does indeed offer is the chance to understand how and why things are in the present time.

I will ask my players if they know their history and usually are not too surprised by their answers.

I will ask them who Floyd Bennett was and why is this land we are on named after him.

They see the photo display on the glass as they walk down Maine Street when they walk through our facility yet never know the significance.

We walk on and through history every day yet never know anything about it. Who are the city streets named after? Why do the neighborhoods have names?

Who were the original peoples who lived here? There is tremendous history, and it belongs to us all.

On East 36th street just about 7 minutes from the Aviator Sports and Events Center there is a home called the Lott House. This was a family Oyster fisherman who cultivated the Oyster beds that lied in the Gerritsen Creek.

They were also instrumental in bringing people from the West Indies, who were Oyster Farmers and experienced Baymen, to escape the slavery of the southern states and in part were part of the Underground Railroad.

Bet you never knew this but now that I have your curiosity let us continue with some of the famous and infamous.

You will have to Google them if you don’t know who they are.

On this date;

10/1 – 1908 Ford debuts the Model T

– 1961 Roger Maris hits #61

Birthday – 1920 Walter Matthau

1963 Mark McGuire

10/2 – 1789 President Washington sends the Bill of Rights to Congress

1950 Peanuts first published

Birthday – 1969 Mahatma Gandhi

1968 Glen Wesley

10/3 – 1778 Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska

1789 President Washington proclaims 1st Thanksgiving Day

Birthday – 1917 Catherine Costello’s Second son

1951 Dave Winfield

10/4 – 1582 Pope Gregory implements the Gregorian calendar

1957 leave it to Beaver debuts

Birthday – 1924 Charlton Heston

1981 Justin Williams

10/5 – 1921 the first World Series televised

1947 Pres Truman gives 1st TV speech from the White House

Birthday – 1965 Mario Lemieux

1972 Grant Hill

10/6 – 1889 Thomas Edison shows the first motion picture

1981 Egyptian President Sadat assassinated

Birthday – 1955 Tony Dungy

1973 Rebecca Lobo

10/7 – 1769 Captain Cook discovers New Zealand

1951 the third government of Israel formed

Birthday – 1931 Bishop Desmond Tutu

1952 Vladimir Putin

10/8 – 1956 Don Larsen pitches 1st perfect game in a World Series

1957 The Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles

Birthday – 1943 R.L.Stine

1949 Sigourney Weaver

10/9 – 1000 Leif Ericson sets foot in North America

1888 the Washington Monument opens

Birthday – 1940 John Lennon

1953 Tony Shaloub

10/10 – 1970 Fiji gains independence

1979 Pac Man released

Birthday – 1813 Giuseppe Verdi

1974 Dale Erhardt Jr.

10/11 – 1975 Saturday Night Live debuts

1984 1st spacewalk for an American woman

Birthday – 1844 John Henry Heinz

1989 Michelle Wie

10/12 – 1492 Columbus lands in the Caribbean

1999 the world’s population hits 6 billion

Birthday – 1935 Luciano Pavarotti

1975 Marion Jones

10/13 – 1775 the U.S. Navy established

1845 Texas becomes a state

Birthday – 1947 Sammy Hagar

1969 Nancy Kerrigan

10/14 – 1926 Winnie the Pooh first published

1962 the Cuban missile crisis

Birthday – 1644 William Penn

1910 John Wooden

10/15 – 1951 I Love Lucy airs 1st episode

1989 Wayne Gretzky becomes all-time points leader

Birthday – 1945 Jim Palmer

1959 Sarah Ferguson

10/16 – 1781 George Washington captures Yorktown

1923 the Walt Disney Company founded

Birthday – 1962 Flea

1992 Bryce Harper

10/17 – 1931 Al Capone convicted of tax fraud

1979 Mother Theresa awarded the Nobel Peace prize

Birthday – 1918 Rita Hayworth

1963 Norm McDonald

10/18 – 1851 Moby Dick published

1925 the Grand Ole Opry opens

Birthday – 1926 Chuck Berry

1984 Lindsey Vaughn

10/19 – 1960 the U.S. places an embargo on Cuba

2005 Busch memorial stadium razed

Birthday – 1962 Evander Holyfield

1970 Chris Kattan

10/20 – 1803 the Louisiana purchase

1955 Return of the King published

Birthday – 1931 Mickey Mantle

1979 John Krasinski

10/21 – 1879 Edison tests 1st light bulb

1954 the Fellowship of the ring published

Birthday – 1942 Judge Judy

1956 Carrie Fisher

10/22 – 1797 the 1st recorded Parachute jump

1836 Sam Houston inaugurated as Texas’ 1st president

Birthday – 1734 Daniel Boone

1952 Jeff Goldblum

10/23 – 1707 1st meeting of the British Parliament

2001 Apple releases the iPod

Birthday – 1940 Pele`

1976 Ryan Reynolds

10/24 – 1861 the 1st continental Telegraph

1929 Black Tuesday

Birthday – 1915 Bob Kane

1936 Bill Wyman

10/25 – 1945 China takes over Taiwan

1962 VP Stevenson shows photos of Cuban Missiles

Birthday – 1881 Pablo Picasso

1912 Miss Minnie Pearl

10/26 – 1825 the Erie Canal opens

1881 gunfight at the OK Corral

Birthday – 1946 Pat Sajak

1977 John Heder

10/27 – 1904 the 1st NYC Subway opens

2004 the Red Sox win the World Series

Birthday – 1728 Captain James Cook

1858 Teddy Roosevelt

10/28 – 1886 the Statue of Liberty is dedicated

1965 the St. Louis Gateway Arch is completed

Birthday – 1914 Jonas Salk

1955 Bill Gates

10/29 – 1869 the Red Cross forms

1960 Muhammad Ali wins his first Boxing match

Birthday – 1942 Bob Ross

1984 Eric Staal

10/30 – 1938 the War of the Worlds is broadcast

2001 Michael Jordan returns to the NBA

Birthday – 1735 John Adams

1945 Henry Winkler

10/31 – 1864 Nevada becomes the 36th state

1926 Harry Houdini dies

Birthday – 1931 Dan Rather

1950 John Candy

I hope you have enjoyed this historical information and some significance of the month of October. Just think that in 91 days the holiday season is here and the true winters chill will be upon us.

Here some happenings at the Aviator Sports and Events Center this month;

10/5-9, 10/12-14, 10/19-20 Pumpkin picking at the Green Meadow Farm

10-16& 17 Sukkot at the Farm

Go to Aviatorsports.com for further information and pricing. There are so many things to keep you busy during the month of October, and all you have to do is walk through the door.

I would also like to cordially invite you to come and watch the players of the future with free parking and free admission. The N.Y.Aviator Premiere and Elite USPHL teams are playing the 2019-20 season, and you get to watch by just walking through the door. Full menu food court, plenty of seating, and a sports lounge with enough sports to make your head spin. Hockey, Basketball, Ice Skating and much, much more. All you have to do is come on in.